Hack Music Theory

A Couplet a Day,

Keeps Insanity Away.

Daily creative habits for better mental health.

We’ve just moved. Again. For more than a decade now, Kate and I have been averaging about one move per year. Last year we moved twice, but our record is an impressive three moves in one year!

The reasons for moving so often are numerous. Sometimes it’s our decision, sometimes it’s not (like the move we just made). The owner of the property we were renting sold it, so we had no choice. Time to pack up our lives. And move. Again.

Psychologists say that moving is one of the most stressful events in life. Having immigrated twice, having lived in four countries, and having moved so many times that I stopped counting when the number of places got to the mid-20s. I agree. Moving is stressful!

And for creatives like us, one of the worst things about moving is the loss of our routine. We work so hard to carve out a little “me time” in our calendars for making art, and then we work so hard to protect that precious time against the countless encroachments. But once our creative routine is established, it’s life-changing. We’re better humans when we’re being creative.

Creating is not a luxury. It’s a necessity. Our bodies need to consume air, water, and food. Our souls need to create art. And for the record, when I say art, I mean anything original that we make. Yes it could be a song or an oil painting, but it could also be a flower arrangement or a loaf of bread. I have my own soda bread recipe that I’ve been honing for years, and making it puts me in the flowstate.

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But when we have to pack up our lives and move, making music and baking bread both come to an abrupt stop. This sudden cessation of creativity is devastating to our mental health. That’s why I began a new creative habit on January 1st this year. It’s a daily habit, and I haven’t missed a day, despite all the time-consuming activities that were added to my schedule over the last few months, like house hunting, packing, moving, and now unpacking.

It’s for that reason that I started this new creative habit. Over the last few years my creative output has been dwindling, mainly due to depression, but that’s a story for another day. Back in December last year, I knew we were probably going to move again this year, and I also knew that there never seems to be enough time in the day to justify spending some of it making art, so I knew I needed a daily creative habit that could be sustained through all the inevitable disruptions.

I actually got the idea from our daily yoga habit. Kate and I have been doing yoga every day for many years. Every morning, seven days a week, we do yoga. If we’re busy, we do less (on moving day, it was only 10 minutes). And when we’re not busy, we do up to an hour. But every day we do yoga. No excuses. It’s been life-changing, and I think it’s one of the few ways we’re hanging on to a tiny bit of sanity through these mad times!

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So, here’s my new daily creative habit: writing a couplet. If you aren’t familiar with couplets, they’re simply two-line poems. And no, they don’t need to rhyme, unless you want them to. So every night in bed, I reflect on my day and think of the most important lesson I’ve learned. Then I write a couplet about it. And inspired by Wendell Berry, I write these with pen and paper.

I love the limit of having to say everything I want in only two lines. It’s similar to a haiku. That strict limit forces us to think more creatively. It’s counterintuitive, but the more limits we have on our creativity, the more creative we need to be in order to express ourselves.

Also, the concise nature of couplets means that we always have time to create one. We’re never too busy to write two lines. And the habit is working. It’s stuck. We’re in May now, and I haven’t missed a day. It’s also pretty cool to see my notebook filling up with creations. I’ve already got over 130 couplets.

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The last thing to mention about my new daily creative habit is that I decided before starting that I would not publish any of them. They’re like a journal. Personal. For my eyes only. I’m not even sharing them with Kate. The reason for this is to allow myself complete and utter freedom.

As soon as we know that we’re making something that will be shared with other people, we start restricting ourselves. Sometimes that’s good. For example, if you want to start a band and play live shows, it is kinda essential that your songs are enjoyable to at least some people, otherwise you won’t get many gigs. On the other hand, if you’re making music exclusively for yourself with no intention of sharing it, then you can do whatever you want. Anything goes! And that’s liberating.

So this is my invitation to you to start a daily creative habit. Today. And…

1. make it small enough that even on your busiest days, you can still find a few minutes to do it.
2. make it simple enough that you can do it even if you’re away from home.

Yes we can (and should) still write songs and paint canvases and make all kinds of other creations, but all those bigger projects require more time and more equipment than just a few minutes spent with a pen and paper. So do both. A small daily creation, which is sustainable. And then larger projects that are ongoing.

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I’m interested to know if you have a daily creative habit, and what it is. And if not, are you feeling inspired to begin one? Drop a comment below, I’d love to hear from you! And if you’re looking for help with your creativity, then I’ve got you covered. From beginner to advanced, there are loads of free resources for you on my website.

If you’re a beginner, start by reading my free book 12 Music Theory Hacks to Learn Scales & Chords. It only takes about half an hour to read, then you’ll have a solid foundation of the basics. If you’re already making music, though, you can work your way through 30 free PDF tutorials. They’re step-by-step musical “recipes” you follow to instantly make better music. All genres are there, too. Electronic to hip-hop, classical to metal, and everything in between. Enjoy!

On top of the free book, 30 free PDFs, and over 220 free YouTube tutorials, I don’t paywall any of these posts either. I don’t want to exclude anyone. But, if you’re enjoying all these free offerings and want me to make more, please support my work by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only about the cost of one coffee per month, but if enough people join, then I can pay the rent and keep doing this work. To sign up, please visit HackMusicTheory.com/Join.

If you can’t afford to at the moment, though, no problem. You can give Hack Music Theory a 5-star rating in your podcast app, that supports my work too. Either way, thank you so much! And welcome aboard the Songwriter’s Ark, where all the music making skills are being preserved through this global AI flood. The flood shall pass. The skills will last.

Ray Harmony :)